Dec 6 Tarpon Springs to Gulfport

Dec 6


WE’RE BACK!!!   Parked the boat at the municipal dock in Tarpon Springs (TS) 2 weeks ago.  Rented a car and drove home for a few days and then up to Charlotte, NC for Thanksgiving with the family.   We've made good progress on our trip but it's nice getting these occasional breaks. 

Our trip so far.  Each dot is a place we stopped

Drove back to TS on the Sunday after Thanksgiving thinking we were being smart and avoiding the Monday traffic jams and backups around Atlanta.  Wrong!!   Wasn’t thinking about Sunday being one of the worst travel days and we paid the price with a very long trip and constant stop and go traffic all day.  Finally made it back and enjoyed a few relaxing days exploring the area.  Tarpon Springs is old Florida.  There’s really 2 parts – the sponge docks on the waterfront with marinas, work boats, tourist shops and restaurants and then about a ½ mile inland there’s old downtown Tarpon Springs with more shops, restaurants, breweries, etc. 

Workboats on the Tarpon Springs waterfront

  A small historic area around downtown with modest working-class houses from the 20’s thru 40’s built during the economic boom years.  Most are still well maintained and give the town it’s character.  It’s not the liveliest town after dark.  Both areas roll up the sidewalks by 9PM but that was fine with us as we’re on “looper time” where looper midnight comes about 9PM!  

While in TS we took a great side trip while we still had the rental car to Tampa to visit with our friends on Cat and Dogs who were at a marina right downtown.  They were really impressed with Tampa.  Lots to do, lots of energy, lots of younger people moving in, lots of building going on.   It’s a town on the move.   We wound up going over to Ybor City which is an older historic section of Tampa founded back in 1880 by Mr. Ybor specifically for his cigar industry. Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants with the specialized skills of hand rolling cigars moved to the area and were instrumental in helping grow Tampa from a depressed village to a growing city. Remember those little wood tipped  Hav A Tampa cigars?  Yup – developed in Ybor City in 1901! After decades of rough times the area is now getting gentrified with artists, shops, bars, restaurants, and breweries.  While much of the residential areas were leveled during the 70’s in an urban renewal effort, the downtown area survived and maintains many of the original buildings.

Oddity in Ybor City - ordinance prohibits messing with the wild chickens

So today we fired up the engine, let loose the lines and headed off to our next destination – Gulfport Fl. It’s on the same peninsula as St. Petersburg so we’ll stay here over the weekend and explore both areas.   Beautiful day on the water.  Must have been a good night for the gulf crossing as we passed 6 looper boats coming into TS as we were exiting the river.  Sunny skies, temperatures back up into normal 70’s range and barely a breeze or ripple on the water.  There are a series of 5 or 6   (lost count) Bascule Bridges  we passed under. Vertical clearance ranged from 21 to 25 feet so we were able to fit under all of them without having to wait for an opening.

Bascule Bridge - no need to open for us!

 First few hours through St. Joseph Sound was open water, but very shallow and minding the channel markers was critical.   That got us to the Clearwater, FL area after which the waterway enters an area appropriately called “The Narrows” before finally opening up into the more open but again shallow Boca Ciega Bay.   Lots of pricey property along these shorelines. 

 We once again were treated to dolphins playing in our bow wave.  Sort of odd the way we’ll see a few dolphins surface up ahead and off to the side and can almost tell they’re gonna come over and play.  They’ll surface another time headed halfway to the boat, then a third time just as they intercept the boat and turn 90 degrees to run alongside the bow.  We can get on the bow pulpit and almost reach down and touch them. They’ll just swim along for 5-10 minutes and then just as quickly with the flick of a fin disappear.

Playing with dolphins - or is it dolphins playing with us?

Finally made it to Gulfport Municipal Marina and got settled in and  still had time for Martha to  start decorating the boat for Christmas.  

 

Home made decoration - surely you didn't think beer was my only vice!!

 Then a walk into town to explore a bit.  Just happened to arrive on "First Friday" when they have arts and crafts vendors line the main street "downtown".  Gulfport is  but another old Florida location.  Looks to be a bit artsy.  Lots of small one story  homes nestled close together but all very quaint. Wonderful waterfront area for sunset watching. 

Journey for Dec 6